The Murder of Officer Harvey

Lewis Franklin Harvey was the first Muskogee police officer to die while on duty after Oklahoma became a state. He was a New Yorker of about forty-five years of age at the time of death. As a rookie, Harvey drew the assignment of night patrol.

Officer Harvey was escorting another man into an alley off North Third Street on March 10, 1908. It was nearly eleven o'clock when Harvey met Jesse G. Cox, a waiter at the Ruby Restaurant. The two knew each other because policemen often ate at the restaurant.

Several weeks earlier, shortly after Harvey switched from working for the city fire department, the two men disagreed over Harvey's treatment of a woman Cox liked. Harvey, on the other hand, did not like the story Cox was telling about Harvey supposedly taking kickbacks from prostitutes, including from Cox's girlfriend.

Cox reportedly told another officer one day that he was going to kill Harvey. Because Cox was drinking heavily, the officer passed it off as "whiskey talk." Subsequently the two met at the restaurant where they seemed to get along. Nonetheless, there remained the undercurrent of mistrust between the two.

The night before the murder, Harvey told Cox that the girlfriend had to leave town. If she did not, Harvey would kill Cox. This upset Cox not only because his own life was threatened, but also of the murder of his father just a year earlier.

Cox apparently made up his mind about Harvey earlier in the day. Cox talked with a former coworker at Fire Station No. 1 saying that it was probably his last day of freedom. Then Cox stopped at the restaurant and picked up the manager's gun, a .45 caliber revolver.

Officer Harvey was making his rounds past stores downtown when Cox walked up. The two walked into the alley and shots rang out. At the inquest, the description of Harvey reported that he had been shot twice, once in the abdomen and once in the head from close range. His right hand held a slapjack. His revolver remained holstered.

A slapjack was a flat leather-coated leaded weapon similar to a blackjack. Many police officers carried them as an enforcement tool at that time. They usually inflicted pain and bruises when deadly force was not needed.

Unfortunately, the alley concealed the actions of both men. Then and now there is no way to know what happened first. After the shooting, Cox returned to the restaurant and announced, "I've killed Harvey, telephone for the police." He offered no resistance when arrested.

He remained in jail until his trial in mid-June. In a spectator-packed courtroom, Cox described the fear he felt that March night when he entered the alley between the Canadian Valley building and the McKibban building where the post office was located. Both prosecution and defense attorneys called for character references.

The jury's first ballot was nine to three for acquittal. Their final ballot acquitted Cox of the murder of Officer Lewis Franklin Harvey.

Officer Harvey's grave will finally get a tombstone Monday, March 10, 2008. Four police agencies will serve as honor guards. Services are at 10:00 am at Greenhill Cemetery. It is the 100th anniversary of his death. The public is invited to watch the honor guards and hear the bagpiper during the ceremony.